If you’re looking for a quietest seat on a plane, according to a JetBlue pilot, there’s less noise when you’re sitting forward on the wings. In most planes, the engines are located under the wings.
For a more peaceful ride, find a seat in the front of the cabin. If motion sickness is a problem for you, the front of the plane is also a good spot to sit, but you may also want to sit near the middle, where the wing is located. According to experts, this is the calmest area of the plane.
This is what makes a great seat according to Independent TravelerExit rows, aisle or window seats, and seats close to the front of the plane are typically considered the best. On a short business trip, you might want an aisle seat near the front of the plane so you can debark as quickly as possible on arrival. On an overnight flight, you might prefer a window seat so you can rest your head. Nervous fliers may want to sit over the wing, where there is less turbulence.
Exit row seats usually offer a bit more legroom, but they're not appropriate if you're traveling as a family. Children are not permitted to sit in exit rows, and by U.S. law infants are not allowed in the rows immediately behind or in front of an exit row either.
Many fliers also like "bulkhead seats," which are the seats directly behind the physical barriers (such as walls, curtains or screens) that separate different parts of the plane. Because there are no seats in front of you, you won't get stuck with another passenger reclining into your lap -- and you often get some extra legroom as well.
But be careful: Not all "bulkhead" rows are created equal. On some planes the first bulkhead row may be cramped and uncomfortable. Also, keep in mind that you won't have a spot to stow a personal item under the seat in front of you for easy access. For more information, go to SeatGuru.com, where you can check out seat maps for nearly every type of plane on every major airline.
According to MarketWatch
Pick airlines that offer the most legroom
Nearly four in 10 passengers say that giving more legroom is the No. 1 thing airlines should do to improve the in-flight experience, according to a survey byTripAdvisor.com. Jamie Counter, the senior director of flights for TripAdvisor.com, notes that discount airline JetBlue typically offers about 34 inches of legroom in economy class, which is “very generous” (though he adds that the airline is reducing its legroom offerings on some planes), while Spirit typically offers about six inches less than that. Most other domestic airlines, he says, fall somewhere between 32 and 33 inches of legroom, which is now “on the high side given the proliferation of slim-line seats.” Seat width tends to have less variation: In the economy cabin, it usually ranges from 17.2 inches to 18 inches, Counter says.
Know which planes have the most space
Legroom differs not only between airlines but within the same airline, as specific jets have different configurations. Counter points out that Airbus planes tend to have more interior space to create more legroom, though that doesn’t mean the airline has necessarily configured them with more legroom. That’s why experts recommend that before booking a flight, consumers check out SeatGuru.com, which shows the specific jet and how much legroom it has in each class.